Cacao Nibs (Raw Organic South American)

Cacao nibs are the original dairy-free, sugarless chocolate chip: crunchy, flavorful and packed with powerful nutrients and natural mood-lifters. Add to raw granola, energy bars, trail mix, smoothies or desserts, or simply snack on a handful of these crunchy treats for a concentrated burst of nutrients and energy that will keep you whistling all day!

Revered by ancient cultures as the food of the gods, Cacao was once traded as currency. Today, science is catching up with the ancients: these sugarless treats provide more cell-protecting antioxidants than any food on earth! Plus they contain mood-boosting phytochemicals (including theobromine and anandamide) and they provide some of the same molecules your brain produces when you're happy or in love.

Even the fats in cacao are good for you — so snack away!

Sugarless whole-food "chocolate chip"

A mood-boosting, energizing alternative to coffee

Ecologically grown and carefully dried and fermented for maximum purity and nutrition

RAW, unroasted cacao for excellent aroma, flavor, and nutrition

More Details

Source & Process

Purity from the source

This cacao is cultivated in pristine forests of Ecuador, Peru and the Dominican Republic by small family farmers whose ecological techniques help revitalize soil & water while protecting wildlife habitat.

heirloom cacao

Cooperative Cacao Farms

Our source is a cooperative of many small farmers. These small farmers and their ancestors have cared for their land for centuries, cultivating traditional Andean and Amazonian foods without chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The farmers of the cooperative all work together to help each other create the finest quality cacao. Whenever necessary, the cooperative provides its members with financial aid and technical assistance to ensure a superior harvest — both in the short run and in the long run.

Beyond Organic Cacao

Beyond the basic requirements for organic certification, our partners encourage and share natural techniques for enhancing soil health and controlling pests, weeds, and disease — all of which is better for the cacao AND for the environment.
In addition to being organic, our entire cacao cooperative receives a certification similar to “Fair Trade,” ensuring overall social responsibility and positive environmental impact. Our “Fair Choice” certification ensures fair and healthy operations in a wide range of areas including working conditions, medical access, fair pay, health and safety, child protection, and environment and community impact.

raw cacao

low-temp fermented cacao

Truly Raw Cacao Nibs

Cacao beans from freshly split pods are fermented under control at 40°C / 104°F and then washed in potable water before being solar-dried.

The beans are machine-cracked into nibs, and the papery skins are separated from the nibs simply by fan power.

The final product is checked and graded, then bagged for shipment to our facility in the US.

The Ripple Effect

You are powerful

All across the world, we pay small farms and indigenous groups a premium price for their crops and also give back 1% to non-profits like Amazon Watch. Your purchase of this product directly contributes to increasing the quality of life for these small organic farmers, since we pay beyond-Fair-Trade prices to guarantee you the purest, finest cacao available! That's why it's more than health food - it's Essential Living Food.

Every Product has an origin

and an impact

You stand at the finish line of an amazing journey with a miraculous beginning: Soil, Water, Sunshine...and Seed. With care and craftsmanship, Life unfolds, blossoms, and thrives. No chemicals needed. Just skill, hard work, and love for the land.

Every point on this map is a place that you touch. A farm. A community. An economy. An ecosystem.

Raw Cacao Nibs Nutrition Facts

Theobroma cacao L, Criollo

You've heard about the amazing health benefits of dark chocolate. Study after study is revealing that chocolate is an incredible source of very specific antioxidants that support human health in everything from cardiovascular function to brain function and longevity. It's also loaded with vital minerals, healthy fats, and mood-boosting phytochemicals.

Possibly one of the world’s most powerful health foods, incredibly rich in antioxidants.

Rich in mental-sharpeners: Magnesium and Epicatechin

Source of natural mood-boosters: Theobromine and Anandamide

Top source of magnesium, which balances brain chemistry, is associated with elevated levels of happiness, and is crucial for heart and muscle function, healthy elimination, strong bones.

Phenethylamine: Commonly known as the "love drug," Phenethylamine (PEA) is one of many chemicals associated with feelings of love, excitement, focus and attention (perhaps explaining the connection of chocolate and romance).

Serotonin: Cacao also causes the brain to increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, the crucial chemical messenger used by the brain to regulate everything from mood to appetite to sex drive (and is the reason depressed patients are prescribed drugs that preserve serotonin in the brain).

Fatty Acid Content

Saturated fats are often believed to have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, but although cacao contains saturated fat, it doesn't fit this generalization. Experiments have shown that cacao butter consumption does not increase levels of total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol (Kris-Etherton et al., 1994).

This probably has to do with cacao's unique fatty acid profile, which is predominantly stearic acid (34%) and oleic acid (35%). Although Stearic acid is a saturated fat, it has been shown to have no impact on levels of blood cholesterol (Kris-Etherton, 1997). Oleic acid is the monounsaturated fatty acid that makes olive oil a uniquely heart-healthy vegetable oil. Research has long been clear about the benefits of oleic acid for proper balance of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol in the body, but Oleic acid may also be responsible for the hypotensive (blood pressure reducing) effects of olive oil by changing signaling patterns at the cell membrane level. Oleic acid also keeps cell membranes soft and fluid, allowing helpful anti- inflammatory substances like omega-3 fatty acid to penetrate the cell membrane more easily. At about 70% of cacao's total fat content, the dynamic duo of Oleic and Stearic acids goes a long way to explain the lack of negative cardiovascular effects from consumption of cacao and cacao butter.

At 26%, the number three fatty acid in cacao is Palmitic acid, a saturated fat. Although some research has created a scare around negative health effects of palmitic acid (comparing it to trans fats for a negative impact on insulin), these studies involved diets based exclusively on palmitic acid, without any other fats consumed. A Canadian study (French et all, 2002) showed that high consumption of palmitic acid does not raise cholesterol as long as linoleic acid is also being consumed. On the other hand, combining palmitic acid with trans-fats definitely had a negative effect on LDL/HDL cholesterol ratios. Coincidentally, nature's wisdom has endowed cacao with the perfect balance of both Palmitic and Linoleic acids.

Oxidation

Cacao's combination of potent antioxidants and protective saturated fats helps to protect against spoilage and rancidity. When protected from light, air, and heat, cacao is very stable and can last for several months (about 6 if refrigerated or 3 in your cupboards).

California Prop 65 Warning

For strictly legal reasons, this product is labeled with a scary-looking warning required by California’s Proposition 65. These products comply with all health and safety standards of the FDA, USDA Organic, and our various certification partners (Non-GMO, Gluten Free, and Kosher), and we personally trust and consume these products every day. However, like many berries, root vegetables, and chocolate products, this one contain trace quantities of naturally-occurring minerals in perfectly safe quantities. Nevertheless, we are required to label the package in order to sell product in California.

Please do not be alarmed by the warning sticker, and understand that a “Proposition 65 warning does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.” Prop 65 is impacting more and more suppliers and retailers (including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s) and soon these labels will be on many natural food products throughout California and across the country.

Recipes

Superfood Recipe: Coconut Cacao Chia is easy-to-make, both light and satisfying — filling you up without weighing you down. Scrumptious & nourishing, it’s also great as an energizing breakfast bowl (especially topped with your favorite seasonal fruit). When a “dessert” is so healthy that you …

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